magnetic resonance imaging

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The use of a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer to produce electronic images of specific atoms and molecular structures in solids, especially human cells, tissues, and organs.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Medicine) a medical diagnostic procedure utilizing the phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance to generate images of internal parts of the body. It depends on the differential absorption of electromagnetic radiation by different types of living tissue in a magnetic field. It is complementary to X-ray imaging in that the softer tissue show more prominently in magnetic resonance images, rather than bone, as with X-rays. It is a non-invasive procedure, allowing such images to be obtained without penetration of the tissue by objects. It is abbreviated MRI. As with computerized tomography, the results are usually presented as images of sequential planar sections of that part of the body of concern to the physician.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun medicine A technique that uses nuclear magnetic resonance to form cross sectional images of the human body for diagnostic purposes.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the use of nuclear magnetic resonance of protons to produce proton density images